At a time when there are 9.4 million women-owned businesses in the US, women entrepreneurs are a necessity for economic growth. Here in Syracuse, the WISE Women's Business Center (WBC) - a center that provides information, resources, and support for local women entrepreneurs - has served over 8,000 clients since 2006.

With that many past clients, there are so many stories ofsuccessful business women who, thanks to WISE WBC and the WISE Symposium, received the support they needed to start and grow their business.

Since we have been involved with the WISE Symposium for so many years, we wanted to highlight the impact the Symposium and the WBC itself have had on women in our community.

Cathy was looking to start a business on a shoestring budget. "I was looking for something that I could do, something that I was good at and I would really enjoy doing. I narrowed it down to cookies because I have always loved to bake, and I thought I could perfect my recipes and be successful with them." She started baking cookies and selling her goods at farmers markets and other events. "The demand for my cookies became so great that I began taking samples to area restaurants and retail stores. I started to get local accounts that I delivered cookies to each week." When she wasn't sure if that's the direction she should stay in, she turned to the WISE WBC for help and guidance. "I met with Maria Wiklund, she was wonderful and very encouraging, she told me that I had developed a great niche market and should stick with it, and she offered to help me with a marketing plan. With Maria’s encouragement, I felt I was on the right path."​In December of last year, Cathy opened Cathy's Cookie Kitchen in downtown Syracuse. "It has been successful beyond my expectation, and it continues to grow each month," says Cathy.

Additionally, the Wise Symposium inspired Natalie and Jennifer, two women entrepreneurs who opened their bakery The Sweet Praxis in November of 2016. (Watch how they started). Lorna Oppedisano of Syracuse Women Magazine (SWM) sat with them for the April issue, here's what they told her about WISE Symposium, which they had learned about from a flyer.“It was really transformative for me,” Jennifer said, “because I’d never been around that many empowered women who just have this creative passion, and are so proud of what they do, and eager to share their knowledge with each other.”

​Lorna writes: She (Jennifer) hadn’t yet met Joanne Lenweaver, the director of the WISE Women’s Business Center, but remembers seeing her speak at the event. That day reassured Jennifer that she and Natalie were on the right track. “I left feeling like, ‘Oh my god, we can do this,’” Jennifer remembered. “I was like, ‘People do this kind of thing all the time. And we know what we want. We just have to get it done.’”

So what is it that you want to achieve? What's your dream? What venture did you always want to take? Or maybe you're unsure what the next step for your business is, perhaps you need advice from someone who has walked the talk... Come to the WISE Symposium, be inspired by the speakers, be inspired by the women in the room, be inspired to go for your big idea...Who knows?

﻿What we do:﻿

The Events Company is a Syracuse event planningcompany specializing in the design, planning, and production of weddings, corporate events and meetings, galas, bashes, showers, milestone birthday and anniversary parties, and fundraisers.